The theme of my Samhain reflection was reprioritization of energy. It’s a little cliché for yoga teachers to be talking about “letting go” this time of year, but with the changing of the seasons, it’s a timely theme. 

For example, I haven’t been prioritizing my 55hr myofascial release training at all, allowing other distractions to stunt my progress. So it goes with self-paced learning. Today I made a calendar to stick to, a small step to help me achieve this goal. 

But that’s just a symptom of an underlying issue. Like many, I’m feeling overwhelmed lately. Every day it’s a new headline, a new outrage, a new issue demanding my attention.  So I’ve been asking myself: What is true? What deserves my energy? How can I disconnect from the noise and redirect my energy effectively? And the hardest question of all, what is real and what is just noise?

People falsely equate the yogic principle of Vairagya (detachment, dispassion) with a willful ignorance of suffering in the world. To be sure, many privileged practitioners fall into the trap of “love and light” spiritual bypassing, believing a “good vibes only” mentality makes them free from suffering. This is dangerous and is a false form of inner peace through ignorance.

Buddhists believe ignorance is one of the Three Poisons, a form of delusion where we close our eyes to the suffering of those around us. In turn, ignorance causes deeper suffering. Willful ignorance of suffering often comes from fear, which in turn incapacitates us rather than leading us to right action.

My November 1st Flow class focused instead on detaching similar to how the trees shed their leaves. The shedding of leaves is their way of conserving energy in the darker months, allowing their roots to stay strong while awaiting the new energy of Spring. In our asana practice, we paid attention to rooting in and growing outward as our energy allowed. 

This is the physical practice of balancing vairagya (detachment) with abhyasa (perseverance, effort). Focusing on what we can let go of allows us to root in and direct our actions appropriately. Off the mat, balancing vairagya and abhyasa is a vital practice in these dark times where a daily onslaught of manufactured outrage stunts our ability to act decisively against the very real dangers to our communities. If it seems like there’s a dozen new absurd outrages in the news every morning, that’s intentional, and it makes it terribly difficult to parse what the real danger is and act accordingly. To be sure, this is the role of propaganda: to embolden your base while paralyzing your opposition.

So I suppose my intention for November is to root in, to stay focused. To detach from the noise and embrace the challenges. And how to tell the difference? That’s the hard part.